The trailer for Peter Jackson’s new film, The Lovely Bones, is now online. For those that haven’t seen it yet, it can be found here. This will be Jackson’s first feature film since he directed King Kong in 2005. A film that I was a huge fan of. The Lovely Bones is based off a 2002 novel by Alice Sebold, that tells the story of a young girl looking down at her former world from heaven after she was raped & murdered. The story takes place in the early 1970’s, and mainly deals with how her friends and family have dealt with her death, and the resulting police investigation. This was a novel that was both a huge commercial & critical success, and after I read it a few years ago I instantly new why, it is a tremendous book.
When I first heard that it was going to be made into a feature film, I had reservations, as most do about books they love becoming movies. It’s not very often that a movie can capture what made the novel so great. That said, when I heard that Peter Jackson was going to be directing this, those reservations calmed some. I’m a huge Jackson fan, I adore his Lord of the Rings movies, and am also a fan of the previously mentioned King Kong, as well as his 1996 film The Frighteners. The writing team behind all three Lord of the Rings movies & King Kong wrote the screenplay to this as well, and it’s clear they know how to adapt novels to the big screen. So while I still had some reservations about the film, most were calmed by the team involved. I was also excited about the cast, which includes Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and Susan Sarandon.
After viewing the trailer numerous times I’m left feeling sort of indifferent. On one hand, I think Jackson’s take on Susie’s heaven is absolutely stunning, and I think captures the imagery found in the book perfectly. However, there’s a few things that have me worried. First and foremost is the overall look of the film. Perhaps it fits great with the era these events take place in, but to me the footage we see in the trailer looked cheap. It looks as though we’re watching a stale, underfunded television show. Maybe this has something to do with the cameras or lenses he choose to use during film making, or maybe it’s just the trailer, or maybe it’s me trying to find fault… but it just doesn’t look right.
The other problem I have is Mark Wahlberg. I hope I’m wrong on this, and clearly I’m basing this on very limited footage, but it looks like we’re getting the Mark Wahlberg from The Happening, instead of the Mark Wahlberg from The Departed & Boogie Nights. In other words it looks like we’re getting the one that forgot how to act. I really do hope he proves me wrong, as I was a huge fan of his before seeing The Happening.
So overall, I’m still sort of excited to see this, for Jackson’s take on such a fascinating story, but I still have some rather big concerns. Same place I was before seeing this. Oh well…
So what did you guys think? Feel free to leave your thoughts on the trailer below, or just tell me I’m too picky if you want. :)
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Tagged: Alice Sebold, Boogie Nights, King Kong, Lord of the Rings, Mark Wahlberg, Peter Jackson, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, The Departed, The Frighteners, The Happening, The Lovely Bones, Trailer